The Republicans are always telling us “Those who have nothing to hide, have nothing to fear.” So what, asks Mother Jones, is Mike Huckabee so afraid of?
… In February, Mother Jones wrote to the office of Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe seeking access to a variety of records concerning his predecessor’s tenure, including Huckabee’s travel records, calendars, call logs, and emails. Beebe’s chief legal counsel, Tim Gauger, replied in a letter that “former Governor Huckabee did not leave behind any hard-copies of the types of documents you seek. Moreover, at that time, all of the computers used by former Governor Huckabee and his staff had already been removed from the office and, as we understand it, the hard-drives in those computers had already been ‘cleaned’ and physically destroyed.”
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He added, “In short, our office does not possess, does not have access to, and is not the custodian of any of the records you seek.”…
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What do the Huckabee files hold? The records could provide details on any number of unsettled controversies involving a governor that faced at least 15 ethics complaints concerning, among other things: his failure to report gifts and outside income, his alleged use of state funds and resources for political and personal purposes, and the pardon of a convicted murderer and rapist who went on to kill again once released.
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A former high-ranking Arkansas Republican who was once close to Huckabee and who requested anonymity told Mother Jones that the destruction of the hard drives puzzled him. “I don’t know what that was about, if they had things to hide or not,” he says. But, he adds, the episode fits with Huckabee’s general reticence when it comes to public disclosure. “Huckabee just absolutely doesn’t trust anybody. In my experience, if you don’t trust people, it’s because you’re not trustworthy. We see the world through our own eyes.”
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
gotta love arkansas, open records are for football coaches and their flings with athletic department secretaries, not governors.
Xenos
Is there no law in Arkansas about conserving records? The mind, it boggles.
PurpleGirl
Whose computers/hard drives were these? Were they the property of the state? Were they the personal property of the former governor? Did he pay the state the cost of replacing these computers? That was destruction of state property and as a citizen I’d want that charge to made of any official who destroyed state property, at any level of government.
I realize his supporters will come up with some cock-n-bull excuse for him but he has no integrity at all. He’s a lying so-and-so. I fully expect his savior to turn him away from the pearly gates.
kdaug
It would be irresponsible not to speculate.
Ron
This is so ridiculous on both the “how is it okay for him to destroy state property” level and the “destroy public records” level. I expect we won’t have to worry about his supporters because I expect the closest this will come to being brought up on the “mainstream media” might be someone on MSNBC mentioning it in a story or Stewart or Colbert bringing it up. Of course one can only imagine if Clinton had done the same thing in Arkansas. They’d be looking for a way to retroactively impeach him.
Southern Beale
Yes. That explains why everything the Republicans accuse Democrats of doing is something they themselves have already done.
niknik
Perhaps his true birth certificate was in those records. We can’t REALLY be sure he was born in the US, can we? I mean, were YOU there?
Huckabee. What kind of name is that, anyhow?
nancydarling
I’ve said it here before. The huckster is Nixonian in his vindictiveness and paranoia. There were two cases of clemency (or early parole, can’t remember which). One was what Huck thought would be a poke in the eye to Clinton since the victim was a distant Clinton relative. Huck was egged on by a preacher in NW Arkansas who had a real bad case of hate for Clinton. If you want more info, google Maurice Clemmons and Wayne Dumond, the two who went on to kill again. Also there was the incident when one of his sons was a Boy Scout camp counselor and he tortured and killed a stray dog in front of his charges. I am astounded that pundits in the MSM seemingly give him a pass on this shit.
Bruce S
“Huckabee. What kind of name is that, anyhow?”
I’ve always thought that “Huckabee’s” would be a great name for a low-end franchise that served up a crappy version of Southern cuisine. Or is that just a metaphor for the man?
jwest
I’m surprised that anyone here would assume that just because certain records are not available, that something is wrong.
If someone has questions concerning Huckabee’s past administration, they should simply ask him and accept the answer as fact.
Legalize
Keep on walking. Why don’t you cover the real story? There’s a university professor out there who said something mean about Scott Walker.
Scott
@jwest: Yeah, if a white man says it, it must be the truth. It’s not like Christian white men are known for lying anyway.
WereBear
I’m in the camp that says he also hid his gastric bypass surgery, all the while writing a weight loss book!
Gall, he haz it.
And the killing of the dog by his son, a Boy Scout counselor; that’s so Southern Gothic it would look over the top in a work of fiction. Bad bad something there.
It all adds up to enough weirdness that I don’t think he’ll Elmer Gantry his way to the Presidential nomination. Then again, why should he? He’s raking in the dough, and getting his hinney kissed, on Faux News.
nancydarling
@WereBear: Not just faux news. Morning Joe waxed poetic about how he liked Huckabee and couldn’t understand the Mau Mau thing Huckabee was espousing.
Egypt Steve
@jwest: I see where you’re going. I wouldn’t take anyone’s word for anything. I would be willing to accept a state-issued, certified copy of any state documents relevant to Huck’s tenure as governor.
aimai
@jwest:
Wow. I finally get the parody that is jwest.
aimai
bkny
and this is the ‘reasonable’ republican theocrat…. imagine if bill clinton had done this.
Roger Moore
@jwest:
Obvious troll is obvious.
Failure, Inc.
This hard drive issue caught my eye, it’s a little specialty of mine.
I find it impossible to believe that Huckabee left office without a single ongoing lawsuit that somehow involved him. That just doesn’t happen. And if there were any lawsuits, the blockquoted text above means that Mr. Huckabee would have been guilty of spoliation on an unimaginable scale.
Spoliation sanctions aren’t something to fuck around with. They are hard to obtain, but if a suing party does win some against their opposition, the results can be devastating for the one who has committed the spoliation.
Huckabee has something that he is hiding, big time. Something that is worth huge amounts of money to protect, or even him going to jail over.
Paul in KY
@Bruce S: It would be really greasy. Would make Dennys seem upscale.
rikryah
I just wanna know HOW was allowed to just DESTROY GOVERNMENT RECORDS LIKE THIS AND WASN’T HAULED INTO JAIL.
nancydarling
@rikryah: It’s Arkansas.
Failure, Inc.
@rikryah: It depends on what the State of Arkansas records retention policy is (how long you have to keep records, and when they are to be destroyed), and what specific parts of that law apply to the governor – i.e. when can his email records be destroyed, when can his paper records be destroyed. It also would depend, as I stated above, if the governor was involved in any active lawsuits on leaving office.
It is entirely possible that there was no crime committed here at all, and that what was done was in line with the state’s policies on records retention. I doubt it, but it is possible.
I’ve got way too much to do, so if you’re curious about what those state policies are, you’re going to have to look them up yourself.
Roger Moore
@rikryah:
IOKIYAAR
Ash Can
@jwest:
Oh, man. You are beautiful.
nancydarling
@Failure, Inc.: @rikryah: Just found out, there are no laws in Arkansas pertaining to the governor’s records.
Failure, Inc.
@nancydarling: Well, than as you said, “It’s Arkansas”. If no records retention laws apply to the governor’s records, then destruction of them is 100% okey-dokey with the legal system.
And it is ONE SHITTY WAY to run a state, I might add. Talk about an utter lack of accountability.
Caz
So, let me get this right – basically, you don’t know anything, have no information, and have no access to information regarding Huckabee’s tenure as governor on these issues. Based on that, Huckabee is corrupt. Do I have that right?
And you complain about those who simply want to see Obama’s birth certificate, which purportedly has not ever been destroyed and doesn’t exist – he just refuses to show it to anyone.
And you don’t see any hypocrisy here? At least if you were consistent, I could buy your arugments. But these issues only rile you up when a conservative is involved – I understand why this hypocrisy exists, but do you really think it furthers your cause to take inconsistent positions purely based on someone’s political party affiliation?
I guess if you’re only connection to reality is the commenting on this blog, things must seem pretty lopsided: conservatives are unethical, corrupt, pieces of shit, and progressives are leaders down the path to the promised land.
Pathetic. But, once again, I’m just a troll, so go ahead and fully discount anything I have to say, meritorious or not. Trolls don’t count, so ignore my comments and keep up the good work!
feebog
@Caz:
Oh boy the softball of all posts. We have the “move along, nothing to see” post combined with birther mania. The fact that an outgoing Governer would destroy all records, even to the point of destroying hard drives, should be a red flag. If there was nothing to hide, then why destroy anything? You don’t get that?
As far as the birther bullshit, please explain how two seperate Honolulu newspapers published notices taken from the State Health Dept. announcing Obama’s birth.
Moran.
Ash Can
@Caz:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You are fabulous!
TenguPhule
Because he hid and/or destroyed all records.
Sorta like the Bush admin did.
Hmmmm…..somebody was taking notes here.